Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the top free agent available and will be in line for a massive deal.
Marner is coming off a career-high 102-point season and enters free agency in his prime. The star winger ended his six-year, $65.41 million deal and will be in line for a raise, as several teams will be interested in him.
The website PuckGM allows users to create signings and trades, and one user predicted that Marner will sign a record-breaking deal with the Anaheim Ducks. The user predicted that Marner will sign a seven-year, $101.5 million deal, which pays him $14.5 million per season.
At $14.5 million per season, Marner would become the highest-paid player in the NHL. The current highest-paid player is Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, who is making $14 million per season.
Marner is a three-time NHL All-Star.
Insider Expects Ducks to Make Marner Highest-Paid Player
The contract prediction from the user comes after an intriguing report from NHL insider James Mirtle of The Athletic.
After the draft combine ended, Mirtle reported that the Ducks plan on offering Marner a deal that would make him the highest-paid player in the NHL.
“One question I tried to pose to everyone I chatted with over the past week: Who is going to have the most interesting offseason?,” Mirtle wrote. “Several folks pointed to Anaheim and GM Pat Verbeek wanting to make a big move or two. To finally push the young club forward after seven consecutive years out of the playoffs…
“The big question is, what do they do with as much as $25 million in cap space after signing their RFAs? Some of the chatter is that they’ll potentially be the high bidder for Mitch Marner, with an unheard-of average annual value north of the $14 million that the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl currently makes as the NHL’s highest-paid player.”
Marner has spent his entire career with the Maple Leafs, but all signs point to him leaving in free agency. He was selected fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft by Toronto.
Marner Uncertain on Future With Maple Leafs
Marner is the top free agent in years and will be highly sought after.
The star winger could help put a team over the top. But after Toronto was eliminated from the playoffs, he said he wasn’t sure about his future.
“I’ve always loved my time here. I’ve loved being here,” Marner said. “Like I said to you guys the other night, I have been so grateful. And, you know, haven’t processed anything yet. It’s still so fresh and losing sucks… In the next couple of weeks, I’ll sit down with my wife and we’ll start talking. Trying to figure out what’s next.”
Maple Leafs’ coach Craig Berube, meanwhile, said he would like to see Marner return.
“I love the guy and love coaching him. I love his energy, personality. He’s a hell of a player,” Berube said. “You know, he does a lot for this team, night in, night out, in a lot of different areas of the game. So I got nothing but good things to say about him.”
Marner recorded 2 goals and 11 assists for 13 points in 13 playoff games.
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